DIY Sump/Refugium Project

Loman · 01-19-2007, 07:40 PM

GM,
Not sure how I missed this when it was posted initially. Great set up. I really like the concept of building some of this type equipment. Not only saves money but I think it is a neat aspect of the hobby. Right now I do not have a sump of any sort. I am curious why the double wall going into the final chamber before the return. If I am looking at it correctly it forced the water to the bottom of the tank and then back up but I don't fully understand the reason behind that.

gm333 · 01-19-2007, 08:20 PM

My main reason was to slow the water down coming into the last chamber, sometimes when i am in a hurry I throw a cube of food into the chamber. This way the block has time to thaw before entering the pump and coming out in big chunks of frozen food. Also when I use carbon I put ii into a filter sock and set it in-between the pump and divider, this way it gets good flow around and through it. Plus I can add a sponge in-between the dividers if needed.

Quote:

Excellent article gm!

I think this deserves credit, very helpful information and well put together, so I have added to your reputation points and I am stickying this thread. Great Job! Keep it up!

Aaron Hill

Thanks Aaron!

gandolf · 01-21-2007, 12:21 PM

so how would i do a 90 and were to put the baffles

gm333 · 01-22-2007, 04:20 PM

Depends on how much live rock and macroalgae you want to keep in it. You basically need three chambers.You want one of the chambers to have enough room for your skimmer, and a chamber with enough room for your return pump, and one for the macroalgae and live rock. Let me stress though that if you are not using an auto mated top-off unit you want to make sure the chamber with the return pump has enough room for evaporation. My tank loses 3-5 gallons a day, and my return chamber had just enough room for 24hrs before the chamber ran too low and I have a bubble factory for the tank. Also I must point out that the slower the flow, the less you have to worry about this problem.
Some people put the skimmer chamber in the first area where the water comes down for the tank. The only reason I put my macro chamber first was so I could slow down the flow over the live rock and macroalgae.

BMueller777 · 02-24-2007, 09:48 AM

I started a post in the hardware section about sumps. Just found this about the sump. Quick question, a Freshwater sump for a 55g? Good? Bad? Possible?

Do tell!!

Thanks

gm333 · 02-24-2007, 10:05 AM

Freshwater sump will work just as well as saltwater. Badkitty has always ran a sump on most of her freshwater tanks. It gives you a place to hide the heater as well as add plants to a tank of cihlids that would just destroy them in the main tank.

BMueller777 · 02-24-2007, 10:40 AM

What are the components of it though, there are things that I saw in this post and I have no idea what they are.... What kind/size units would I need for a 55g?

gm333 · 02-24-2007, 04:00 PM

How long and wide is the inside of your stand? Is there a divider in the middle of the stand? If so what are the dimensions? Well go from here to see what size tank you can pot under the stand. Plus you will need an overflow box, plumbing materials and a return pump. We will rate the return pump on the overflow box you will need. I suggest a cpr cs50 it will give you 300gph and a mag 5 return pump.

BMueller777 · 02-24-2007, 08:05 PM

It's the standard 48x21x13 55g tank with a stand that makes it 48'' tall, tank + stand, so I'd say it's about 48Wx13Dx24T on the bottom. It's a metal stand from like the early 90's, heavy as a mofo

so I'm sure it's very strong. (Some people think metal stands are weak/unstable but this one's solid all around + thick) So there is substantial room down there for even another 55g tank. (I don't want/or think I need a 55g sump

) The tank is also just as old FYI and it's not drilled and the bottom is tempered glass and I can't drill it and the other glass is 1/4'' thick.

I think that's enough information about my tank and stand!!
Or is it?

lol

I also just checked out the Mag 5 Return Pump and the CPR CS50, I thought going with a sump set up would be a pretty penny but those things arn't that expencive!

I'm looking to spend 150-200$ on filitration alone. Can I get a good sump set-up for that much?

gm333 · 02-24-2007, 10:32 PM

A 20 gal long tank will wrk just fine, it will have to be setup a little different than the one I made. You will have to have the first chamber filled with bioballs. The second chamber you can use for anything and the third will need to be used for the return. Here is a diagram I drew up to help you picture it.